"風を案内して"
━━━━━━━

"

Brother!"

Huh? What.... what is that?

"Hey! ɹ̴̨̡̡̧̛̛̪̥̘̼̮̻̲͈̦͚͔͍̳͍͒́̀͆͋͛̍̊̊͊͒̉̽̆̃̎̇̎̏̅̄͒̀͆̑́̍͘͝͠ͅǝ̷̨̖̫̼̼͗͐ƃ̴̡̢͈͖̞̩̯̙̥͇͔͍̗̲͎̝͉̱͉̞͈̩̩̭̔̋̚n̵̨̧̨͖̖̝̜͕̲̺͉̲̺͔̱̠̓̈́͋͛͆̀͋̆̋̍͗̇̕͘l̵̢̡̛̞͙̼̲̖̜̘͈̙̭̥͚̗̺͎̰̯̄̋͒̾͆͋̋̔͂̽̋̃̔͆̎̐̊̑̓̀̏͆̋͐͌̑́̈́̒͘͝͝͝͠͠͝ņ̴̛̭̣̥͚͙̫͂̿̎̊́͌̐̈́̃̀̊̑̆͛̃̽́̄̈́͛̈́̅͘̚͝s̶̘͕͛̐͐͒̓̾̄͂̽ wake up already!"

Right. Sister is waking me up... I should soon or she'll be angry with me.

I opened my eyes to be met with dull golden eyes. Her gaze was completely dead, carrying the sense of fear and sorrow. I couldn't help myself. Everything didn't feel right, yet I was completely fine.

But my being felt like I was floating in an endless Void. I... felt nothing.

I don't like this.

"ɹ̴̨̡̡̧̛̛̪̥̘̼̮̻̲͈̦͚͔͍̳͍͒́̀͆͋͛̍̊̊͊͒̉̽̆̃̎̇̎̏̅̄͒̀͆̑́̍͘͝͠ͅǝ̷̨̖̫̼̼͗͐ƃ̴̡̢͈͖̞̩̯̙̥͇͔͍̗̲͎̝͉̱͉̞͈̩̩̭̔̋̚n̵̨̧̨͖̖̝̜͕̲̺͉̲̺͔̱̠̓̈́͋͛͆̀͋̆̋̍͗̇̕͘l̵̢̡̛̞͙̼̲̖̜̘͈̙̭̥͚̗̺͎̰̯̄̋͒̾͆͋̋̔͂̽̋̃̔͆̎̐̊̑̓̀̏͆̋͐͌̑́̈́̒͘͝͝͝͠͠͝ņ̴̛̭̣̥͚͙̫͂̿̎̊́͌̐̈́̃̀̊̑̆͛̃̽́̄̈́͛̈́̅͘̚͝s̶̘͕͛̐͐͒̓̾̄͂̽  Don't look for me."

Her tears fell from her once shining optics, as she held my face. Her expression was filled with pain and agony, that I... began to feel. It was emotionally and mentally painful, even when she did not project her pain onto me. I could just feel it.

I reached for her, wrapping my arms around her to bring even the smallest bit of comfort. It felt like I was holding air, but I tried hard to imagine the warmth she would emit. The soft feeling she gives of.

"Be safe. Don't sacrifice yourself for me, don't die a regretful death. Live your life out peacefully. You don't have to live under the Deities of Celestia."

She cried out, making my heartache. The tone she carried was enough to pierce a hole in my chest.

She hugged me back, crying into my shoulder as I gently caressed her snow-white hair.

Giving her a smile, I did what any usual younger sibling will do.

"Not a chance."

I disobeyed her

"I will find you and bring you back home."

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The peaceful moments of WIndblume made the unrest within him rise. Noir could only watch Nyx and Venti bicker.

"Hey Noir!"

Noir turned his head, smiling at the trio who called on him. Paimon was happily zooming in the air, flailing his arms for his attention. The little pixie being zoomed to him, wrapping her arms around his neck. She squealed happily, nuzzling herself to him. Noir chuckled heartily, gently rubbing the back of her head.

Aether ran to catch up to his companion, panting as the little pixie had gotten too excited seeing Noir.

"Paimon! Slow down alright!" he panted, wiping the sweat from his chin. But he froze once he saw how affectionate his companion was to the Reisender.

Some would mistake them as relatives, with their white hair. Though, Noir's hair was a bit darker than Paimons pure white hair.

"Paimon and Aether are going to see Kaeya with the tone-deaf bard. Wanna know what he wrote for his love Poem?"

Paimon asked, reluctantly letting go of the Reisender after Aether gave her an intense glare.

"A love Poem? You must be talking about Venti's Lessons. Nyx dragged me to the plaza just so she could make fun of him." Noir admitted, wondering where the snake had gone too.

Recently, she has begun to randomly disappear, explaining that she was going to meet with a friend. He found it odd that the usually anti-social familiar had made a friend.

Paimon snickered, having come across the dark-haired lady and instantly became the best of friends. Their favorite pastime was insulting Venti at every chance they had, and with that was a painfully honest fact with the insult.

Poor Barbatos suffered from two people, who apparently would do everything in their power to hog Noir's time.

"Ooh~ Traveller! Thankfully you found him for me."

The three turned their heads to a smiling bare clad in green. "Noir, care to join us?" Venti offered, smiling brightly at him.

Aether subtly glared at the bard, once Venti hooked his arms with Noirs. He huffed in annoyance, crossing his arms and impatiently tapping his foot on the ground.

Venti snickered, hiding a wide smirk.

"Hey~ Let's go now!" paimon yelled, dragging the white-haired boy away from the two.

.

"We're back! Kaeya have you finished?"

Kaeya smiled, glancing at the newcomer that came along with them. "Welcome back, I see you've brought a friend. Well, I'm just finishing up." kaeya smiled, handing it over to Venti.

"Ooh~ wonder what he wrote."

Paimon expressed her curiosity, leaning over Venti's shoulder to read the poem. However, the bard snatched it away from her sight and smiled teasingly at the angry pixie.

Noir sighed, shaking his head in amusement.

"Now, now. No hurting my feelings."

Kaeya chuckled, grinning at Venti. The bard's expression morphed into irritation for a small second, not aware that both Kaeya and Noir easily saw it.

"Tone deaf bard, what grade did he get."

Venti merely smiled at them, silently gritting his teeth. "Kaeya, may I read this out loud?"

"Feel free," kaeya smirked, almost forgetting Noir who stood beside Aether.

"Mi Muhe ye means I love you in the language of hilichurls."

Noir immediately choked on his saliva once he heard the so-called 'poem'. He turned to the smugly smirking Kaeya, giving him a bewildered expression.

"Eh. EHH?!?!"

"That's it."

Aether gave Kaeya a disappointed expression, "I feel bad for anyone who'll get this... Well maybe Ella musk could appreciate something like this." he murmured, deadpanning at the cavalry captain.

"Coherent and to the point. Plus, the length seems just about right."

"A Hilichurlian love poem... How unfortunate for the person to receive such a thing." Noir smirked, as Aether nodded along with his words.

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Kaeya was left alone, feeling from the scene with the excuse of investigating a suspicious figure. However, his reason for such excuses was to be distanced from the bard. He had thought that he was alone outside the walls of Mond, watching the soft waves on the cider lake.

Did he know things? Quite the peculiar situation he was in.

He closed his eyes for a few moments, reminiscing the peaceful past he yearned to return to. To the times of happiness, he had with his brother and father. But with his origins, he can't actually rest quietly.

The sounds of footsteps interrupted his musings, his eye snapped open. His hand slowly drew closer to the hilt of his sword. However, the sound of cackling made him stiffen.

"To think! You would write a threat in a love poem. Who was it for? The bard?"

Kaeya's eyes widened in shock, turning his head to the side. He saw a young man, his hand on his hip as his imperfect white hair swayed as the wind churned. The grin that curved up his lips, irony to the threat that was sent to none other than his friend.

Sometimes, his presence made people forget... that someone was always watching. Someone was always following you. And no matter what you do, you cannot get rid of them... except enter the light that will blind you from the truth of the world.

Your shadow.

"So... You can speak hilichurlian as well?"

Kaeya chuckled, crossing his arms over his chest. his torso was turned to face Noir. His crooked smile didn't even faze the Reisender.

Noir stood beside Kaeya, giving him a Cheshire grin.

"I triumph over you."

Kaeya released a sly laugh, grinning at the albino-haired fellow. For someone he had seen untrustworthy, Kaeya started to become fond of the reisender. Untrustworthy. It is exactly why Kaeya slowly trusted the man.

Neither of them was honest to those around them. They lie for their own sakes, yet at the same time, it is for others' safety.

The truth sometimes is the most painful thing to accept, thus people lie to soothe that pain.

"Hm... Perhaps, you were upset that such... a wonderful bard was devoted to the Anemo Archon. Or, was it something else?"

Noir was simply jesting, but beneath his smile was a sinister smirk. Not many knew of this man's true personality, and those who he did not trust yet were able to witness it were immediately disposed of. Maybe it was because he didn't want to lose any more allies. Or maybe because he didn't want his friends to know how wicked he truly was.

He would do all he can to protect those he cherishes, but will his resolve continue if the threat was someone he treasured more than teyvat itself?

Perhaps, Kaeya too would experience this in the future. He too must make a decision that would affect the future of hundreds.

Kaeya hummed softly at the question, taking a small glimpse at the Reisender. He's even more elusive than Kaeya himself.

"Such a wonderful bard, yet he follows the Anemo Archon. Well, he is free to follow whoever he wants. Honestly, the Anemo Archon would be the best choice."

Noir turned on his heel and smiled as his face was shadowed over.

"Khaenri'ah is the nation that has been destroyed. Not because its god died, or did a diety abandon them. But because it didn't have a god, to begin with."

Kaeya slowly averted his gaze from the sky's reflection from the lake, to staring at Noir's back. He didn't even notice the shadow that loomed under the Reisender's feet, not... quite alike to the owner.

"However, unlike how you think... The people of Khaenri'ah. Those who survived are not sinners, rather they are... the symbol of humanity's determination to be independent. To be free from the shackles of ignorance."

His blue-lilac eyes were as wide as saucers, not expecting such a bold statement. Especially during a festival in which the people of Mond believe that the Anemo Archon would spiritually witness.

"You... are quite bold, huh?"

Noir was too busy musing to the Cavalry captain to notice a certain person's presence. 

Shining aqua-green eyes dulled at his words, biting at his thumb. He wore a melancholic expression, yet he couldn't will himself to appear before his friend. 

Deep inside him, he knew that the King of Darkness held some sort of grudge.

"I'm sorry my dear Schatten." 

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The wind's churn was slowly becoming melancholic. None noticed the change, yet those blessed by the power of Anemo shivered in fright of the sadness that the wind carried. While some who were sensitive to the elements were confused about the sudden change.

Yet only so little were to notice Teyvats darkness so restless.

The man stood over the cold mountain of Dragonspine, overseeing the beautiful flowers that flew high into the sky. Blessed by the power of wind, they danced across the azure canvas.

"How long has it been since we last were together?" 

Arms crossed over his chest, he frowned at the celebratory atmosphere. This was not a day he could easily be happy. After all, two people were missing from his vision of happiness. But did a sinner like him deserve it? Perhaps not, yet others were persistent to deny.

He took in a deep breath, glancing at the slowly rising shadows all around him. The more power the god of shadows regains, the more dangerous the darkness of teyvat becomes. Even if he protected Teyvat, there had always been a chance...

Of him sacrificing everyone for the dream he deemed unreachable. 

The future of teyvat was created by its people, but its end always began with Astaroth's decision.

Another sigh escaped the man's lips,

"Perhaps, in another life, we could live in peace. If things were just... different."